Confident Teenshttps://www.confidentteens.co.uk
Fri, 26 Oct 2018 11:25:08 +0000en-GBhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.8Many teen girls are strugglinghttps://www.confidentteens.co.uk/girls-struggling/
https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/girls-struggling/#respondThu, 28 Jun 2018 07:11:35 +0000https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/?p=1009With 2018 marking the centenary of (some) women winning the right to vote we can celebrate the progress that has been made for girls and women in many spheres of life in the UK. However, an area of increasing concern is the rising level of mental health problems experienced by girls. Whilst girls often outperform boys academically, the school experience for many girls is significantly unhappier.

]]>With 2018 marking the centenary of (some) women winning the right to vote we can celebrate the progress that has been made for girls and women in many spheres of life in the UK. However, an area of increasing concern is the rising level of mental health problems experienced by girls. Whilst girls often outperform boys academically, the school experience for many girls is significantly unhappier.

Pressures on teen girls.

A survey conducted by the Department of Education in 2016 found that 37% of girls reported feeling “unhappy, worthless or unable to concentrate”. In a typical mixed school class that’s 5 or 6 girls who are feeling this way. Speaking to teachers and school leaders, there is widespread concern over the rising levels of anxiety, depression, eating disorders and self-harming they are seeing with teen girls.

So there continues to be a role for targeted work with girls in school.

If we examine teenage life in 2018, teen girls face a plethora of pressures – immense pressures for their bodies to look a certain way, a competitive culture that often prevents nurturing, supportive friendships from forming, often changing home lives, anxiety about performing in exams – and this is all lived under the unforgiving spotlight of social media. In fact, this combination of pressures is something that many adults – with all their experience and resources – would struggle to deal with. But we expect teen girls, at a time when hormones are soaring and their brains are forming new connections (scientists have recently discovered) to deal with this multitude of pressures and thrive academically.

Building resilience is key to improving outcomes

Key to addressing this is supporting teen girls to develop their own self-belief, resourcefulness, and skills for handling different situations.

Confident Teens has designed the Building Resilience programme for this purpose. Taking a coaching and growth mindset approach, the programme of six workshops is focused on the topics that girls worry about most – areas like body confidence, speaking confidently, friendships and their future. Working with small groups of 15 girls, each girl is supported to develop her own ideas and strategies for handling the pressures of teen years.

Girls are then in a stronger position to progress, both personally and academically.

This programme can form a key part of a school’s preventative strategy for mental health problems.

Closing the gap for Pupil Premium students

This programme is of particular benefit for Pupil Premium students. As it addresses barriers to learning including confidence, aspirations and engagement it contributes to school strategies for closing the gap for disadvantaged students.

If you’re looking for a programme that builds resilience and personal skills, enabling teen girls to progress both personally and academically, find out about the availability of the Building resilience programme for your school by contacting Caroline Walker, founder of Confident Teens, on hello@confidentteens.co.uk

]]>https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/girls-struggling/feed/0How a Growth Mindset encourages resiliencehttps://www.confidentteens.co.uk/growth-mindset/
https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/growth-mindset/#respondMon, 25 Jun 2018 11:34:56 +0000https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/?p=998Many schools have embraced a Growth Mindset approach to teaching and learning over the last few years. At Confident Teens we believe it has a central role in supporting teen girls to build their resilience, confidence and belief in themselves. The central premise of Growth Mindset is believing that we are all capable of developing new skills. And what’s key is the effort we put in ourselves and the strategies we use in our learning and development.

]]>Many schools have embraced a Growth Mindset approach to teaching and learning over the last few years. At Confident Teens we believe it has a central role in supporting teen girls to build their resilience, confidence and belief in themselves.

The central premise of Growth Mindset is believing that we are all capable of developing new skills. And what’s key is the effort we put in ourselves and the strategies we use in our learning and development.

In contrast to Growth Mindset, Fixed Mindset is having set ideas of what we good or bad at (for example “I’m rubbish at maths”). With a Fixed Mindset we focus only on the end-results, with an emphasis on what other people say, rather than on our own resources, efforts and views.

An aspect of this is our attitude to failure. Failure is such a difficult area for many young people (and adults too of course), particularly at a time when they are feeling so self-conscious, and their academic progress is being rigorously measured. Growth mindset enables an empowering attitude to failure, as it encourages us to see failure as simply part of the learning experience, and the “failure” provides us with feedback to try another way.

A powerful example often used to illustrate this is Thomas Edison’s quotation describing his process for inventing the first (commercially viable) lightbulb, “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that didn’t work”.

A more contemporary version that I often use in the “Confidence” module of the Building Resilience programme is from JK Rowing, who afterall was rejected by 12 publishers before she secured a deal for her first Harry Potter novel (and we all know what happened after that was published, so a great role model and story):

“Failure is so important. It is the ability to use failure that often leads to greater success. I’ve met people who don’t want to try for fear of failing.”

Supporting teen girls to understand and embrace a Growth Mindset is so empowering for them, as it encourages them to expand their own resourcefulness, develop their abilities and not to be afraid of failure.

It also encourages girls to focus on their own effort, and to take responsibility for their own development. This an important aspect of developing their confidence and resilience, during their teenage years and beyond.

As parents and teachers one way to encourage a Growth Mindset in teenage girls is by focusing on the effort they make, and the strategies they use, rather than the end result.

If you’re looking for a programme that builds resilience and personal skills, enabling teen girls to progress both personally and academically, find out about the availability of the Building resilience programme for your school by contacting Caroline Walker, founder of Confident Teens, on hello@confidentteens.co.uk

]]>https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/growth-mindset/feed/0Body confidence isn’t about bodieshttps://www.confidentteens.co.uk/body-confidence/
https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/body-confidence/#respondFri, 15 Jun 2018 08:49:25 +0000https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/?p=992Body confidence is such a difficult area for many teen girls. They consistently face digitally altered images which present impossibly perfect girls and women. And as we know this can impact girls’ self-worth, as they use these fake images as a measuring stick to their changing bodies –impacting their confidence, and often distracting them in class. This article explains how the Body Confidence module of the Building Resilience programme encourages girls to change their mindset about their bodies.

]]>Body confidence is such a difficult area for many teen girls. They consistently face digitally altered images which present impossibly perfect girls and women. And as we know this can impact girls’ self-worth, as they use these fake images as a measuring stick to their changing bodies –impacting their confidence, and often distracting them in class. This article shows how the Body Confidence module of the Building Resilience programme encourages girls to change their mindset about their bodies.

During the ‘Body confidence’ workshop it was clear that Sara* was finding it difficult to find a way to think positively about her body. We’d explored as a group the prevalence of digital editing in images. Sara particularly liked the before/after shots of Katy Perry! By understanding that these pictures simply aren’t real Sara was seeing that it wasn’t helpful to compare herself to something that had been generated by a computer. Although she still found it impossible to find things she liked about her body.

The turning point came when our discussion turned to our ‘inner selves’. We first brainstormed all the qualities that we admired in other people, such as kindness, generosity, a good sense of humour and much more. I supported Sara and the other girls in the group to see that actually it is these qualities which define us a people – not the colour of our hair, the shape of our eyebrows or our weight. I could see a penny had dropped for Sara.

As we wrapped up the session, I asked the girls what they would do with what they had learnt about body confidence and Sara shared

“Well if I was talking to a friend, and she said she was fat and hated that about herself, first of all I would tell her that she wasn’t fat, but actually whether she was or wasn’t didn’t really matter, what matters was that she was kind and sensitive and such a good listener, that I knew I could always rely on her as my friend”.

By reflecting this back to the group, Sara shows that she understood that appearance isn’t what defined her as a girl. It’s how we make people feel that really matters.

This is a more sustainable way to support teenage girls to feel better about their appearance and bodies – help them to put it in perspective, and value all the wonderful qualities they have.

If you’re looking for a programme that builds resilience and personal skills, enabling teen girls to progress both personally and academically, find out about the availability of the Building resilience programme by contacting Caroline Walker on hello@confidentteens.co.uk

]]>https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/body-confidence/feed/0Learning to choose friends wiselyhttps://www.confidentteens.co.uk/friends/
https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/friends/#respondTue, 12 Jun 2018 13:53:49 +0000https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/?p=985As a teacher you know how distracted or upset girls can be when they are not getting on with their friends. In the “Relationships” module of the Building Resilience programme I teach teen girls to recognise healthy and unhealthy behaviours in a relationship, and explore their strategies for friendships. This support girls to feel empowered to make choices about the friends they are spending time with, and the relationships they enter into.

]]>As a teacher you know how distracted or upset girls can be when they are not getting on with their friends. In the “Relationships” module of the Building Resilience programme I teach teen girls to recognise healthy and unhealthy behaviours in a relationship, and explore their strategies for friendships. This enables girls to feel empowered to make choices about the friends they are spending time with, and the relationships they enter into.

Our starting point is to reflect on the multitude of relationships in our lives, but how the relationship we have with ourselves – our inner voice and our attitude to ourselves – is central. And how this, crucially, underpins our relationships with other people.

We go on to learn about examples of healthy and unhealthy behaviour in relationships and this sparks a discussion about what to do when people act negatively. I encourage girls to ask themselves a crucial question: “Do I feel good about myself when I’m with this person?”

This is a difficult area for many girls; by understanding that other girls struggle with friendships and how to best get on with people they see they are not alone with this. And they work out their own strategies.

As I do throughout the Building Resilience programme, as we finish the session I ask girls to reflect during the next week on their friendships and what they have learnt.

The subsequent feedback from Poppy* was striking. She realised that actually she didn’t feel great about herself when she hung out with her current group of friends. So she’d invited some other girls to do something together and they’d had a great time. She was now enjoying getting to know these new girls. She had felt empowered to change her friendship group and had taken proactive steps to do just that. She was so happy to have made the change.

And changes were seen at home too, following the Building Resilience programme, the school asked for feedback from parents of girls attending the programme and one mother fed back:

“My daughter definitely has improved in handling her relationship issues with school friends and also realising that she can talk to me about friendship things and that I won’t take things out of her control.”

By equipping girls with understanding the difference between healthy and unhealthy behaviour in relationships, and realising that they deserve to be in nurturing, caring relationships they are learning skills which will benefit them throughout their lives. Whether that’s their choice of girl/boyfriend, friendships or in a work situation if they encounter a bullying boss or colleague. The insights they have gained, and the skills they have learned will mean they are in a stronger place to make better choices for themselves.

]]>https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/friends/feed/0Encouraging girls to consider STEM through increasing confidencehttps://www.confidentteens.co.uk/stem/
https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/stem/#respondWed, 06 Jun 2018 14:14:17 +0000https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/?p=973We often see reported (and see ourselves in schools) the low levels of self-esteem amongst teen girls and then, separately, we learn of how few girls are taking STEM subjects at A-level. (For example in 2016 only 1.9% of girls choose Physics A-level, compared to 6.5% of boys). I believe there could be a link between this lack of self-belief in many teen girls and low participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). By addressing issues of confidence and resilience, we can encourage girls to consider STEM subjects in their A-level choices. In turn this could lead to STEM degree choices and their future careers

]]>We often see reported (and see ourselves in schools) the low levels of self-esteem amongst teen girls and then, separately, we learn of how few girls are taking STEM subjects at A-level. (For example in 2016 only 1.9% of girls choose Physics A-level, compared to 6.5% of boys). I believe there could be a link between this lack of self-belief in many teen girls and low participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). By addressing issues of confidence and resilience, we can encourage girls to consider STEM subjects in their A-level choices. In turn this could lead to STEM degree choices and their future careers.

The contrast between male and female participation in STEM subjects beyond GCSE is stark – according to WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) only 33% of girls who take maths and science GCSEs programme progress into any form of Level 3 core STEM qualification, whether that is via A-level, advanced apprenticeship or vocational qualification routes. This contrasts to 80% of boys from the GCSE cohort that progress to a Level 3 STEM qualification.

And this matters to the UK economy too. WISE estimates the STEM worker shortfall to be approximately 69,000 per year. Without significant change, this means the UK’s vital STEM industries are under threat. WISE also estimates that 50,000 talented girls are lost every year from STEM jobs. So if we can encourage girls to consider STEM for their GCSEs and afterwards, we can all contribute to addressing this shortfall.

These three ideas encourage girls to build their confidence, and consider STEM options and careers as a result:

Raise aspirations

Many young people see STEM careers as the more difficult choice. So our starting point is to encourage higher aspirations so that teens consider all careers. In the Goals and Aspirations module of the Building Resilience programme I support teen girls to mindmap their skills, interests and aptitudes, and then work together to brainstorm possible careers to match these. The key is to encourage and support them to stay open-minded and consider a wide range of options for themselves.

Encourage curiosity for role models

Teenagers gain ideas for their careers from family members first of all, as well as from popular culture. We can support them further by encouraging a curiosity around a wide range of role models and careers. During the workshops in the Building Resilience Programme I share role models from science, architecture, business, sport and literature to name a few.

By showcasing these women and how they have overcome set-backs to achieve their goals, encourages and inspires girls to see how they can overcome their own challenges, set themselves goals and create plans to achieve them. Read more about goal setting in this blog.

Encourage a growth mindset

I believe supporting a growth mindset in teenagers is an invaluable factor in encouraging them to consider studying STEM subjects, and for their career choices. By supporting them to believe that they themselves can develop their own skills, and their results are driven by their own efforts, and the strategies they take, leads them to relish challenges and be open-minded to their choices.

Unfortunately there is no magic formula for addressing the shortfall in girls taking STEM subjects, but by raising aspirations, promoting a wide range of role models and encouraging a growth mindset approach we are supporting teen girls to believe in themselves, their capabilities and the possibilities for their future career – and that that could include STEM.

If you’re looking for a programme that builds resilience and personal skills, enabling teen girls to progress both personally and academically, find out about the availability of the Building Resilience programme for your school by contacting Caroline Walker, founder of Confident Teens, on hello@confidentteens.co.uk

]]>https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/stem/feed/0Goals can raise aspirations – but they need something else toohttps://www.confidentteens.co.uk/goals/
https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/goals/#respondTue, 29 May 2018 06:44:35 +0000https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/?p=966Many girls struggle to see the connection between their long-term goals and their day-to-day choices. In the ‘Goals and aspirations’ module of the Building Resilience programme I support teenage girls to define their own goal, make a plan to achieve it – and then reflect on what they are doing on a daily basis to make progress on their plan. This is an effective way to raise aspiration, and contribute to increasing motivation in class.

]]>Many girls struggle to see the connection between their long-term goals and their day-to-day choices. In the ‘Goals and aspirations’ module of the Building Resilience programme I support teenage girls to define their own goal, make a plan to achieve it – and then reflect on what they are doing on a daily basis to make progress on their plan. This is an effective way to raise aspiration, and contribute to increasing motivation in class.

The starting point is to support students to develop their own goal – one that matters to them. It’s empowering for students to have the time and support to really think about where they want to go in life.

The crucial next step is to then create a plan to achieve this goal.

As Stephen Covey says, we “Start with the end in mind” and then work back, to the day-to-day.

For example, in one workshop Chloe* shared that she’d like to be a vet. But being in Year 7 she couldn’t see how what she was doing now, day to day at school, was relevant to this long-term goal of becoming a vet. I supported Chloe to break the job of being a vet down, and think about how she could develop skills for this career. What hobbies did she have now (or could she develop) to show an aptitude to caring for animals?

Turning to her school work, how’s was her maths currently? She admitted it was a subject she found difficult. I supported Chloe to understand why maths matters – because it was crucial for her goal of becoming a vet. What could she do on a day-to-day basis to make progress in her maths, so it became a strong subject for her? What new attitude or approach could she bring her to maths classes, to improve her concentration, engagement, and ultimately her grades?

I asked “So Chloe, knowing your goal is to become a vet, what will you do differently in Tuesday’s maths lesson?”

The key to taking this coaching approach with Chloe is that she developed her own strategies and ways that she could work towards her own goal, by making progress in her maths.

Goal setting is effective – but goals need a plan to make them a reality. What’s key is to support teenage girls to find the goal that motivates them, and then support them to build their own plan to work towards that goal, step by achievable step.

At the end of the session, girls completed their workshop feedback forms, their comments included:

“I’ve learnt what my goals are and how I can achieve them by planning them out”

If you’re looking for a programme that builds resilience and personal skills, enabling teen girls to progress both personally and academically, find out about the availability of the Building resilience programme for your school by contacting Caroline Walker, founder of Confident Teens, on hello@confidentteens.co.uk

]]>https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/goals/feed/0Celebrating four years of supporting girls to progresshttps://www.confidentteens.co.uk/supporting-teen-girls-to-progress/
https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/supporting-teen-girls-to-progress/#respondWed, 16 May 2018 08:44:33 +0000https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/?p=931Confident Teens is celebrating its four year partnership with Herts for Learning, a leading education company operating with a not-for-profit ethos. Teachers know the impact on learning of friendship difficulties, social media and body worries for teen girls. They see the distraction, anxiety and, sadly all too often, mental health problems that can develop. Confident Teens’ ‘Building Resilience’ programme supports girls to combat these pressures and build their resourcefulness.

Confident Teens is celebrating its four year partnership with Herts for Learning, a leading education company operating with a not-for-profit ethos.

Teachers know the impact on learning of friendship difficulties, social media and body worries for teen girls. They see the distraction, anxiety and, sadly all too often, mental health problems that can develop. The ‘Building Resilience’ programme from Confident Teens supports girls to combat these pressures and build their resourcefulness. Hertfordshire secondary schools have seen the difference in progress for girls who have taken part, “This girl is much more engaged and tries difficult questions” fed back one teacher. The programme is of particular benefit to Pupil Premium students.

The Building Resilience programme focuses on equipping girls from Year 7, 8 and 9 with skills to handle the pressures of teen life and beyond. The six workshop programme forms part of schools’ preventative mental health strategies, by supporting girls to develop their self-belief and help prevent mental health problems develop.

“Children with higher levels of well-being have higher levels of academic achievement and are more engaged in school” Department of Education

Looking back over the four years of Confident Teens’ programmes, they have benefited students and schools in these four ways:

1. Supporting progress – academically and personally

By focusing on the topics that girls worry about most, including expressing themselves, friendships and their future lives, the Building Resilience programme addresses barriers to learning and supports girls in their personal development, so they are in a stronger position to progress both personally and academically. For example, in the ‘Speaking Confidently’ module, girls learn the mindset and body language to express themselves confidently, and practise these skills in the session. And teachers have seen the difference in class for example:

“This student has always been an excellent student on paper, but would not speak up. Now she engages in class discussion, leads group tasks and offers to read things out and give answers in front of the whole class.”
Teacher

2. Raising aspirations

Setting goals for their own futures is an effective way to support girls to progress at school. In the ‘Goals and aspirations’ module of the Building Resilience programme girls are encouraged to consider their future careers, and make short and long term goals towards this achieving this. They are taught how to make a step-by-step plan to achieve their goals, and are held accountable for their progress towards their first goal. And this makes a difference in terms of their aspirations. Feedback includes:

“These students now have greater aspirations for themselves.”
Teacher

“It was excellent. I have a sense of confidence and feel more positive and ambitious for the future”
Year 9 student

3. Targeted support for Pupil Premium students

This programme is of particular benefit to Pupil Premium students, and can form part of a school’s strategy for closing the gap.

It addresses barriers to learning including confidence, aspirations and engagement.

With groups of 15 girls participating in the programme, every student receives support and encouragement to develop her own skills and mindset.

4. Measuring impact and providing evidence

Measuring impact and providing evidence is integral to the programme, including a before/after comparison of students’ attitudes, plus students’ written feedback of their experience. These findings are compiled into a report for the school, alongside examples of output from the sessions.

95% of students rated the workshops as excellent or good.

During the six workshop programme, varied resources are used for group discussion, individual and small group exercises. Every student has her own four-page workbook in every session, to use for self-reflection, and keep afterwards (a series of six in all).

If you’re looking for a programme that builds resilience and personal skills, enabling teen girls to progress both personally and academically, find out about the availability of the Building resilience programme for your school by contacting Caroline Walker, founder of Confident Teens, on hello@confidentteens.co.uk

]]>https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/supporting-teen-girls-to-progress/feed/0Unlocking the confidence to express themselveshttps://www.confidentteens.co.uk/unlocking-the-confidence-to-express-themselves/
https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/unlocking-the-confidence-to-express-themselves/#respondMon, 14 May 2018 07:46:37 +0000https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/?p=912Many teenage girls find it difficult to express themselves, whether that is answering questions in class or speaking up with their friends. Through the ‘Speaking confidently’ module in the Building Resilience programme girls learn to develop the mindset and skills for expressing ourselves, adopting a growth mindset approach. Girls have plenty of opportunity to practice this in a supportive and fun way during the session. This article outlines how this session unlocked Jessica’s* ability and confidence to express herself.

Many teenage girls find it difficult to express themselves, whether that is answering questions in class or speaking up with their friends. Through the ‘Speaking confidently’ module in the Building Resilience programme girls learn to develop the mindset and skills for expressing ourselves, adopting a growth mindset approach. Girls have plenty of opportunity to practice this in a supportive and fun way during the session. This article outlines how this session unlocked Jessica’s* ability and confidence to express herself.

In the ‘Speaking confidently’ session I noticed Jessica was reticent to ask questions or contribute to the discussion. I sensed this was an area of difficulty for her. But I could also see that she was intrigued by the idea that she could change her approach and how she expressed herself.

Unsurprisingly teen girls find it awkward – and funny – when practising eye contact with each other. Cue embarrassed giggles. But by experiencing the difference between feeling listened to when eye contact is maintained, opposed to the disinterest they felt with a lack of eye contact, they could see its importance. And of course, practising this is key. As the session progressed, I noted that everyone was making an effort to look me in the eye when answering a question or contributing to our discussion.

After practising some further skills for speaking confidently, we wrapped the session up with every girl committing to choose one subject where she would make an effort to put her hand up to answer questions, or volunteer to speak in class in another way.

I was intrigued to hear how they got on.

At following week’s session, Jessica fed back that at a workshop for the whole year, suddenly the microphone had been handed to her. She’d previously have refused to speak, but remembering what she’d learnt in our session she’d taken a brave breath, and talked in front of the whole year about what her team had done during the activity. She was so proud of herself!

I was delighted that Jessica had stepped up in this way, and proven to herself that she could do it. And it transpired that these new skills had served her well in class, enabling her to progress academically too; at the end of the programme one of her teachers reflected on the change she had noticed:

“This student has always been an excellent History student on paper, but would not speak up. Now she engages in class discussion, leads group tasks and offers to read things out and give answers in front of the whole class.”

If you’re looking for a programme that builds resilience and personal skills, enabling teen girls to progress both personally and academically, find out about the availability of the Building resilience programme by contacting Caroline Walker on hello@confidentteens.co.uk

]]>https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/unlocking-the-confidence-to-express-themselves/feed/0Hiding their light?https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/hiding-their-light/
https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/hiding-their-light/#respondTue, 18 Aug 2015 14:03:25 +0000https://www.confidentteens.co.uk/?p=276Do you teach some girls who you know are brighter and more capable that they are showing? That are – quite simply – hiding their light.
This can be so frustrating as their teacher. You have so many things to do and think about, but you have a nagging feeling that some girls are simply under-performing.
This can be a common issue with teenage girls, and it can be for a multiplicity for reasons.

Do you teach some girls who you know are brighter and more capable that they are showing? Girls who are – quite simply – hiding their light.

This can be so frustrating as their teacher. You have so many things to do and think about, but you have a nagging feeling that some girls are simply under-performing.

This can be a common issue with teenage girls, and it can be for a multiplicity for reasons.

Maybe they don’t want to appear brighter than their friends (they are afraid to stand out), perhaps they are not encouraged by their families and so don’t have self-belief in their abilities, maybe they have become complacent. Added to that, unfortunately some girls worry that doing well in class makes them unattractive to boys (fuelled by media messages – a topic for another blog!).

Whatever the reason, it can result in some girls simply ‘coasting’ at school, not engaging with their learning, and most importantly not fulfilling their potential – at school and for their futures.

What are the symptoms of this ‘coasting’?

Not asking questions in class – not asking you to clarify points, or help them understand a tricky area

Not contributing to discussions in group work – being happy to take a back-seat, hide behind their hair, fritter time away doodling, rather than contributing with their class-mates

Inconsistent written work – sometimes showing their potential in their written work, but other times doing the bare minimum.

Does this sound familiar?

Is it driving you mad?

What can be done to break the cycle and encourage these girls to step up and engage with their learning?

These are some of things I do in workshops to help girls build their confidence:

1. Practising speaking in safe way

Some girls fall into the habit of just not contributing to class. To break this pattern it’s key to build their confidence and abilities in the simple skill of speaking aloud in class. One of the activities I use is to go back to basics, so students work in small groups and practice reading a simple poem. Firstly they just practice reading the poem to each other, and then work as a team to read the poem to the whole group. I build on this with a quick fire round of asking them a question and we rapidly move round the circle with each girl sharing a thought. This is repeated several times, with the volume increasing each time! Girls sometimes need to be reminded that they have a voice.

2. Uniqueness of opinions

Girls also need to be reminded that their knowledge and experience in unique to them. A method I use to help them gain this insight is to talk about World War II and what they know about it, and then build on this by asking who has relatives that fought in the war. In every group at least one girl has a grandfather or other relative who fought, with personal stories from the war handed down through the family. This illustrates this student has a unique understanding of the war through her family member, and by extension every girl in the class has a distinctive understanding and knowledge of other topics, whether it is cooking, dance or French. By helping them see that they are unique individuals, builds their confidence that their opinions are valid and they have important contributions to make.

3. Learning through failure

One of my favourite quotations is from JK Rowling who says “Failure is so important. It is the ability to use failure that often leads to greater success. I’ve met people who don’t want to try for fear of failing.”

I use this quotation as a spring-board for a discussion with girls about why they are at school, and that learning is a process of listening, experimentation and applying knowledge.

These activities encourage girls to find their voice, recognise how their experiences and opinions are unique to them, and how important ‘having a go’ is in their experience of learning.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on encouraging girls to shine and thrive in the class-room, please leave a comment below.